In His Image
1
WHEN OWEN WAS forty, the people of St. John's Norway Cemetery put his sister Lori in the ground. Had she lived, she would have turned thirty-two in a month.
The non-denominational minister, who had been provided by the funeral home, read the standard verses: the one about the deceased being not dead but merely sleeping, followed by a bit of Psalm 23, John 3:16's "only begotten Son," and then another about ashes and dust—nothing particularly inspired or personal. Owen saw his mother's jaw clench as she ground her teeth. Distaste for religious platitudes was one thing they still had in common, aside from their love of Lori, who was dead and soon to be buried.
Even Lori's headstone was just like the others beside and behind it. Speckled granite with too much polish, more like a jewel than a grave marker. The artificial grass was too green, sterile. Owen had expected to see dirt, a small sign of the grim business being done, but aside from a few specks along the too-smooth edges of the hole, there was none. What had been taken out—and subsequently covered by more green plastic shag—had been expertly removed, leaving a perfectly rectangular chasm in which Lori, Owen's little sister, would lay until time wore her bones to the minister's dust and ash.
Owen was glad for the few mourners who cried, because he couldn't seem to manage tears himself. Even when he thought back to the last time he'd seen his sister alive, and the bad way they'd left things, he felt cold, detached. The others, the people who smiled for her life instead of weeping over her death, he wanted to grab by their shoulders, shaking away their smiles, the way he'd shake away bad art on an Etch A Sketch. He wanted to shout in their faces, She's dead! Stop smiling! Lori's dead, you maniacs, and she's never coming back!
He couldn't, though. Not because doing so would violate social norms he cared little about at the moment, but because he lacked the courage. Stewing in impotent rage, Owen shoved his hands deep into his pockets and watched the casket sink into the ground, sinking the way Lori had sunk in that lake up north—whose name he couldn't recall—before she'd finally begun to float again, not from the force of her own will, but from the gases of her decomposition.
Death is lighter than water, he thought.
"For today we grieve the loss of a good soul," said the minister. "But rest assured, life will go on, and happiness will surely find us once more."
Surely, Owen thought grimly. In his right pocket was a handful of dirt, smooth and without stones. Between his fingers, it felt something like ashes.
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THANK YOU
Thank you for reading my debut horror collection, Gristle & Bone! When I started out writing this book I had no idea what it would become, and that many more would soon follow it. I only wanted to share these few stories I had trapped inside my head with a handful of possible readers. I could not have imagined it would be picked up for republication by a genuine publisher (only for the company to dissolve a year later), that it would receive many positive reviews, and one day be enjoyed by writers whose work I have enjoyed myself.
I truly hope you've enjoyed what you read, as well. If you have, please consider leaving a brief review on Amazon and/or Goodreads. I would also love to hear what you think via social media @ www.facebook.com/duncanralstonfiction and/or on Twitter @userbits. I enjoy talking books (especially horror), movies, TV shows—and would love to hear from you!
The people I need to acknowledge keep changing, but there are many constants: Sherri, for not getting annoyed when I watch you read my words. My parents, for reading even the stuff that's far too disgusting for them. Fellow writers Jeffery X. Martin, Thomas S. Flowers and Chad Clark (you can, and should, find all of their books on Amazon). The Don of Horror, Jim McLeod, and his Ginger Nuts of Horror team. Chris Hall from DLS Reviews for his excellent introduction to this edition. Extreme Horror Author Matt Shaw. Friends, family, readers, interviewers, and blog reviewers, without whose feedback and encouragement this book would not have endured so many damn reprints. Thank you all.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Duncan Ralston is the author of the horror collections GRISTLE & BONE and VIDEO NASTIES, the novellas WILDFIRE, WOOM, WHERE THE MONSTERS LIVE, SCAVENGERS and EBENEZER, and the novels SALVAGE and THE METHOD. His screenplays have won and placed in several major competitions.
For more from Duncan Ralston, including exclusive updates, blog posts, and contests, please join him at his official website duncanralston.com, or follow him on Amazon, BookBub, Facebook, and Twitter.
SHADOW WORK PUBLISHING
Also by Duncan Ralston
Salvage (novel)
Wildfire (novella)
Woom (novella)
Where the Monsters Live (novella)
The Method (novel)
Video Nasties (collection)
Ebenezer (novella)
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